What exactly is WP missing now?

[shortylickens]

My bank lets me deposit checks via an iOS or Android app. It's essential for my business.

Thats fine for a business phone.

But do you prefer something else for a personal phone? Do you prefer one phone for everything in your life?

 

[zerocool84]

Thats fine for a business phone.

But do you prefer something else for a personal phone? Do you prefer one phone for everything in your life?

The average person has one phone for business and pleasure.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

They're missing the boat...

 

[Nebor]

Can't deposit checks (USAA pulled their WP app completely)
No Tinder
Xbox music is garbage

 

[WelshBloke]

You know what's frustrating? They are *so* close, everything is right there and they just consistently screw the pooch on the last 5-10%. They just can't do it. And it's been years of this. :hmm:
...

Windows Media Center...

Windows Home Server...

So much agreement on those two. They are both awesome products and needed much more of a push from Microsoft.

The synergy they could have worked in with media centre, home server and a connected mobile device would have been so fantastic. This was the sort of stuff that people were waiting for them to do back in the WM days and they still haven't delivered on it.

 

[rockyct]

The good thing is that WP8 has moved to a very rapid update cycle. They decoupled most of their apps from the core OS which had been holding back the platform and the OS itself is now getting significantly updated every few months. I think 8.1 is a very good sign for the platform and may be the turning point. The unified app store will also help because if you buy an app once, you'll have it on your desktop/tablet/phone and possibly your Xbox. It should be an attractive market for app makers as well.

 

[WelshBloke]

I think XXXX is a very good sign for the platform and may be the turning point.

I've been hearing this since before they ditched WM.

 

[Demo24]

I just got a Nokia icon as a work phone. So far excellent for that purpose given that it syncs very well with exchange. Wish there was a gmail and some other Google apps to be honest, but I can deal without them for this purpose.

I was shocked at how bad the app market was though, I thought people were exaggerating it.

Only had it a few hours and haven't been able to put it through a proper work day yet. Excited to see how it works out for me. Also rather keen to get 8.1, but since they did extra for me to get this model I'm waiting on the ota update. Since its for work only I figured it won't be too bad if I don't have everything I do on my android devices.

 

[crashtestdummy]

I just got a Nokia icon as a work phone. So far excellent for that purpose given that it syncs very well with exchange. Wish there was a gmail and some other Google apps to be honest, but I can deal without them for this purpose.

I was shocked at how bad the app market was though, I thought people were exaggerating it.

Only had it a few hours and haven't been able to put it through a proper work day yet. Excited to see how it works out for me. Also rather keen to get 8.1, but since they did extra for me to get this model I'm waiting on the ota update. Since its for work only I figured it won't be too bad if I don't have everything I do on my android devices.

Don't bother waiting for the OTA update. Just sign up for the developer preview so you can get 8.1 now. The whole reason they created that system is to bypass the slow carrier approval process.

 

[pantsaregood]

Feature-wise there's nothing missing now. WP still seems to lag on hardware and app selection though. Hardware will be coming along soon I'm sure

Lagging hardware? The Lumia 930 (Icon) and Lumia 1520 both have Snapdragon 800s and 2 GB of RAM, as well as 1080p displays. I know it isn't a Snapdragon 801/805, but those are relatively minor revisions to the Snapdragon 800. The Samsung ATIV SE has the same specs as the Lumia 930 essentially, which places it somewhere between a Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5 in specs - not to mention it looks identical to them.

The camera hardware in the 930, 1020, and 1520 puts just about every other phone to shame. Whether or not you like that platform, I don't feel it's fair to say it's bad because of hardware.

 

[zerogear]

http://bgr.com/2014/02/28/windows-store-daily-app-downloads/

At MWC this week Microsoft said that Windows Store is now serving 4 million app downloads a day, which TechCrunch estimates is a 135% increase from the 1.7 million daily downloads it averaged this past October. This is extremely impressive growth, especially when you consider that Apple’s App Store last year was averaging daily download volumes in the 5.5 million to 6 million range.

If the rate continues, there might be much more interest in developing for the platform.

 

[biostud]

If you want to get the best out of WP, buy the WPCentral app. Great for info about useful apps, updates etc.

 

[biostud]

If they really want to increase WP sales, they should make office365 free to use on the devices for home users.

 

[jaydee]

I just bought a Lumia 520 for $50, no contract on Amazon. I don't have any immediate plans to use it as a phone, as we're locked in with verizon (grandfathered unlimited data + free wifi tether, we use it for our home internet).

I've only had it for two days and I think it's amazing for the price. Stuck a spare 32GB mSD card in, and it's an mp3 player, I can use it as a sudo GPS for directions with offline maps, has a decent outdoor camera, free wifi web browsing, view excel sheets natively, some anti-boredom light games and it's there for emergency calls. If my main phone dies, I can activate this with a prepaid plan for cheap (AT&T GoPhone) to get me by until I figure out/buy a new/used phone.

I can't think of anything else that can come close feature-wise for anywhere near the price, or price-wise for anywhere near the features. I have no idea how MS makes any money off this.

 

[s44]

I can't think of anything else that can come close feature-wise for anywhere near the price, or price-wise for anywhere near the features. I have no idea how MS makes any money off this.

They don't, it's massively subsidized.

 

[WelshBloke]

If they really want to increase WP sales, they should make office365 free to use on the devices for home users.

How many home users want to look at excel spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations on their phones?

 

[IeraseU]

Thats fine for a business phone.

But do you prefer something else for a personal phone? Do you prefer one phone for everything in your life?

I actually try to carry as few things with me as possible. If I absolutely had to carry two phones with me (for work related reasons) I would do so, but it's not my preference.

 

[AstroManLuca]

If my main phone dies, I can activate this with a prepaid plan for cheap (AT&T GoPhone) to get me by until I figure out/buy a new/used phone.

I can't think of anything else that can come close feature-wise for anywhere near the price, or price-wise for anywhere near the features. I have no idea how MS makes any money off this.

I spent some time away from AT and I'm frankly surprised at how many people here are still using postpaid contract plans from the big carriers. Maybe it's because everyone here is a millionaire and needs the latest and greatest but seriously, WP synergizes really well with the prepaid smartphone movement. Devices are cheaper off contract than Android devices and run better because WP is such an efficient OS. Try running Android on the same hardware that comes in the 520. It's painful to even think about.

I can understand not being a huge fan of WP when you're comparing a high end subsidized WP offering to high end Android offerings. But the beauty of WP is you don't need to get the absolute most expensive and powerful phone on the market just to run the OS lag-free.

The other thing is, I don't expect WP to ever overtake iOS or Android. They're too entrenched. But this is nothing like Blackberry or Palm. They might own a small percentage of the market, but the smartphone market is exponentially bigger than it was in 2008. Having 5% of smartphone sales in 2014 is way better than having 5% in 2008. Plus WP is very solid in markets where lots of people buy their phones off contract. It's understandably weak in the US where everyone signs 2-year contracts willy nilly, but their business in Europe can help stabilize them.

 

[biostud]

How many home users want to look at excel spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations on their phones?

For final review and light modifications it would be nice, and while maybe not that useful it would still promote both WP and Office365 in one stroke, with very little cost to MS.

 

[Belegost]

For final review and light modifications it would be nice, and while maybe not that useful it would still promote both WP and Office365 in one stroke, with very little cost to MS.

So Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote) has always been free on WP, and if you have an Office365 account it syncs with it smoothly - but even if you don't use Office365 you still use it with OneDrive and sync with any other version of Office. Plus it supports local docs on the phone if you want to avoid the cloud at all.

So unless you were suggesting other devices should get Office365 free, WP already has what you're asking for.

 

[shortylickens]

Phone?
Not at all.

But I've seen plenty of people looking at spreadsheets and databases on tablets.

And lots of times folks wanna use the same OS for their tablet and their phone cuz it makes moving data easier.

 

[zerogear]

If they really want to increase WP sales, they should make office365 free to use on the devices for home users.

Windows Phone already has office built in. It loads documents through SkyDrive OneDrive quite nicely.

 

[biostud]

Windows Phone already has office built in. It loads documents through SkyDrive OneDrive quite nicely.

Me<-Fail

I thought it was read only

Thx

 

[AstroManLuca]

Lagging hardware? The Lumia 930 (Icon) and Lumia 1520 both have Snapdragon 800s and 2 GB of RAM, as well as 1080p displays. I know it isn't a Snapdragon 801/805, but those are relatively minor revisions to the Snapdragon 800. The Samsung ATIV SE has the same specs as the Lumia 930 essentially, which places it somewhere between a Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5 in specs - not to mention it looks identical to them.

The camera hardware in the 930, 1020, and 1520 puts just about every other phone to shame. Whether or not you like that platform, I don't feel it's fair to say it's bad because of hardware.

Yeah the issue is Nokia is being slow and obnoxiously stubborn about releasing better hardware in the US. For a long time, the "flagship" phones on both AT&T and T-Mobile were using the same Snapdragon S4 from 2012. AT&T finally got the 1520 but it's enormous and not for everyone. Basically unless you're on Verizon you're stuck with outdated tech until this summer.

They should have just released the Icon/930 on all carriers last year and it wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Imaginer]

WP8.1 added internet sharing to the list of settings. Never use it myself (on a low-data plan), but assuming your carrier allows it, it looks like it is now an official option and doesn't rely on shaky third party hacks.

Even on pre 8.1, my HTC 8X has the Internet sharing option. Just at the time, I would have to pay Verizon an extra $20 per line for enabling that feature - compared to my current plan that has that encompassing.